1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system for collecting and temporarily storing the revenue deposited by transit bus passengers or the like. The fares deposited in a fare box are temporarily stored in a locked box, which receives the revenue from the fare box and is commonly referred to as a cash box or a till.
2. Background Information
In the past there has been no way, other than by constant supervision by a trusted supervisor, to guarantee that the cash box and its revenue are delivered to a duly authorized location. There have been known systems in which a cash box has been inserted into the apparatus on which a fare box is mounted, such systems involving the use of infrared transmission, and also involving a mirror placed on the cash box such that unless the cash box is in the correct place the fare box will not be rendered operative. However, such systems have proved to be unsatisfactory from the security standpoint. That is to say, that there is no guarantee, as noted above, when the cash box containing the revenue has been separated from the fare box, that it was delivered to the proper authorized location and the revenue properly transferred to suitable receiving equipment.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a system to allow the fare box, or a piece of ancillary equipment, to determine the presence and identification number of any properly equipped cash box inserted into an associated fare box or ancillary equipment.
Another object is to enhance the security of the revenue contained in the cash box by allowing the continuous monitoring or "tracking" of the cash box from one piece of equipment to another.